Airtel Africa has reported a loss after tax of US$89 million during the year ended in March 2024, from a profit of US$750 million reported at the end of March 2023, primarily due to the significant foreign exchange headwinds, amid increase of mobile money revenue.

The company’s consolidated financial information shows voice revenue declined by 12.5 percent to US$2.17 billion from US$2.49 billion, while data revenue went down by 3 percent to US$1.73billion from US$1.78 billion respectively.

Mobile money revenue recorded positive trend, after increasing by 21 percent to US$837 million during the year ended in March 2024, against US$692 million recorded at the end of March 2023.

Basic EPS was negative (4.4 cents) compares to 17.7 cents last year while EPS before exceptional items was 10.1 cents, a decline of 25.9 percent. 

“Both EPS before exceptional items and basic EPS were primarily impacted by significant derivative and foreign exchange losses during the year,” the financial statement says. 

EPS before exceptional items and derivative and foreign exchange losses was 18.3 cents compared to 20.5 cents in the prior period.

Average revenue per user (ARPU) also dropped by 13.3 percent to US$2.8, compared to US$3.3 respectively, amid increased total customer base of 152.7 million compared to 140 million.

Data customer increased by 17.8 percent to 64.4 million from 54.6 million

The results show that mobile money customer went up to 38 million at the end of March this year from 31.5 million recorded at the end of March 2023, on continued investment into distribution to drive increased financial inclusion across our markets.

Olusegun Ogunsanya, Chief executive officer, explains; “The consistent deployment of our ‘Win with’ strategy supported the acceleration in constant currency revenue growth over the recent quarters which has reduced the impact of currency headwinds faced across most of our markets.  This strong revenue performance is a reflection not only of the opportunity that is inherent across our markets, but also the resilience of our affordable offerings despite the inflationary pressure many of our customers have experienced.

“The investment in our distribution to catalyse growth, and the technology required to support this growth has been key. Furthermore, our rigorous approach to de-risking our balance sheet and our capital allocation priorities has materially reduced the risks that the currency devaluation has had on our business,” he says.

Ogunsanya further asserted that key initiatives include the reduction of US dollar debt across the business and the accumulation of cash at the HoldCo level to fully cover the outstanding debt due. 

“We will continue to focus on reducing our exposure to currency volatility. At the beginning of March, we launched our first buyback programme reflecting the strength of our financial position,” said Ogunsanya.

“The growth opportunity that exists across our markets remains compelling, and we are well positioned to deliver against this opportunity. We will continue to focus on margin improvement from the recent level as we progress through the year.”

During the reported period, the company board approved a share buyback programme of up to $100m, over a period of up to 12 months. 

On 1st March 2024, the company announced the commencement of the first tranche of this buyback up to a maximum of $50m. During March 2024, the company purchased 7.4 million shares for a total consideration of $9m.

The board has therefore recommended a final dividend of 3.57 cents per share, making the total dividend for FY24 5.95 cents per share.